Against all odds, we did it, team. This was the toughest challenge I’ve ever seen students complete.
We had a real client, a budget, deadlines, and a large fan-base for the main talent expecting results.
If our students only followed tutorials or copied the method that one person claims as “industry standard”, they would have failed.
This is exactly why my fellow instructor Ganz Ramalingam and I focus so much on teaching the concepts behind each tool and push you to try multiple methods: so you can connect the dots later by yourself.
The complexity, ambitiousness, pressure, and ever-changing nature of this project could only be handled by independent thinkers who could communicate, collaborate, hit notes, and deliver results. My team shared references, mood boards, elements, plates, shots, organized and labelled Nuke scripts, and recorded demos with narration. There was knowledge-sharing without me having to even suggest it.
I could have hired a Senior Compositor to set up a pipeline, build templates, finalize lookdev, and tackle the hardest shots. I honestly almost chose to do it all myself. But I prioritized maximum learning opportunities for my students because that’s what I believe teachers should do. Plus, my students already learned from Senior mentors and guest speakers during our program and will continue to do so in their future jobs. This was a rare opportunity for them to take on more responsibility.
I’m very proud of Moises Moreno, Hiroka Oizumi, Adrian He, Rose Hicks, and Suelen Rebello. All 5 of you can look back on this project as something you accomplished on your own. And that’s a powerful thing.
Special thanks to William Bradford for BTS photos and Abraham Cantu Morales for his awesome Houdini FX work for the final episode. Huge thanks to CG5 and his whole team for granting us this opportunity.
“This is awesome, Andrew Zeller! I am so thrilled with how this all came together and turned out. We couldn’t have accomplished it without each and everyone on this team. You exceeded my expectations multiple times and created something lasting and impactful. Watching the full film with an audience of over 300 was awesome and seeing and hearing their reactions to the VFX work was so fulfilling!
William Bradford – Co-director/co-cinematographer/Producer
Thank you for everything on Project U Move!!”
You can watch all 3 episodes of CG5’s Project U Move on YouTube using the links below. We created a behind the scenes video for our Alpha Chromatica YouTube channel too.
